Shane: Her Time to Dance
by Sentimentalthoughts
Summary: A possible scenario of Shane at the hospital/chapel in LWY. The characters are the creation of the wonderful Martha Williamson. Second attempt to correctly publish.


Chapels are considered sacred places. People go there to pour out their grief, to plead for loved ones, to seek comfort for their pain, sometimes even to rile at God. Shane McInerny had gone there to say thank you. Finding God in the whirlwind or in a still, small voice was new for Shane. She wasn't all together sure what to do with this encounter with the Almighty, but she had sought Him and discovered He had been there all along. She had cried and experienced His comfort. She had prayed, and He had answered. She was just so…grateful. She was drawn to His presence.

Once, she told Oliver to do the right thing, and he would know what to do next. Responding to the events of the past 48 hours with prayers of gratitude was the right thing to do. In truth, she wasn't sure what would come next.

Very early that morning at the canyon, Shane called out to Oliver. She wanted to rush to him the minute that she saw him coming out of the woods but was stopped. He hadn't attempted to look for her or to even acknowledge her when he climbed into the ambulance to be with his dad. Once at the hospital, neither she nor Dale had seen him.

Shane stayed near the E.R. desk only long enough to overhear that Joe was going to be fine. Then she slipped away to find the chapel.

She knew what it meant to leave Dale waiting by the emergency room – waiting for Oliver. Dale would be free to greet Oliver alone – and Shane had seen more than one of those welcoming embraces. She had seen enough to know that Dale Travers cared for Oliver - possibly romantically - and had more experience caring for God than she had. Oliver and Dale had a connection built on common interests and, more importantly, on a common faith.

But in that moment, Shane was so overcome with gratitude that all she could do was find a place to pray, to say thank you to the God, in whom Oliver placed his trust. It wasn't just the right thing to do, it was the thing she most wanted and needed to do. If the ground underneath her was about to shift, if Oliver was safe and alive – but safe and alive for someone else – or some other purpose under heaven, Shane wanted to be standing on solid ground. And she had surprisingly found that ground in prayer.

And so she walked down the hallway until she found the door to the chapel and entered. It was beautiful - more beautiful than she expected. She sat down as quietly as possible, hesitating to interrupt the peaceful silence of the room. More than words of gratitude coming from her heart to the ears of God, there was just this overflow of feelings of thanksgiving. She didn't understand it. Could it be that sometimes prayer is like sitting in silence with a dear friend – of not saying anything – and knowing that He hears your heart and understands? Whatever this truth about prayer was, she had found peace.

Shane was so lost in prayer, lost in gratitude, that she didn't turn her head, didn't flinch when the chapel door opened. And then, there Oliver O'Toole appeared, his exhausted frame taking the seat next to her. While she was so genuinely grateful that he and Joe were found and were safe, she wasn't certain what was coming next. "Hold it together Shane," she thought to herself as he sat beside her.

Then, Oliver began to speak. In halting voice and with a naked honesty, he bared his heart to her – his fears – his pain – and now his hope for their future. With his expressed hope "that our first date won't be our last," her last fears and self-protective defenses melted away. During the previous long, dark night while Shane prayed for Oliver, he had prayed for their future.

But when Oliver took her hand, brought it to his lips, and closed his eyes something transpired between them that involved the Holy. When she had imagined being kissed by Oliver O'Toole - and the thought had crossed her mind more than once - it had been a romantic moment between them on the porch swing, or a stolen kiss coming out of a dip as they danced, or perhaps a gentlemanly requested kiss at the end of a date. But the dream had never been anything as tender and even sacred as this moment. As she met him in this moment, she too closed her tear-filled eyes, and found her heart pouring out gratitude to God – gratitude for this truly good man, gratitude that God had never given up on her, gratitude for the incredible journey that brought her to this place.

Her head rested on his shoulder, her heart strangely rested in God. She found perfect peace leaning on this incredible man and delight when he rested his weary head on hers. And so, with eyes closed and her soul looking upward, Shane McInerny's heart began to dance.

To everything there is a season. It was her season, their season, to dance.


End file.
